Wembley Park, home of Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena, is one of the top areas featured in The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2025 comprehensive guide.
Walthamstow in east London won the top spot.
The Sunday Times’ expert judges visited 72 locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.
Wembley Park was a once “nondescript corner of Brent” but has transformed through US developer Quintain’s £2.8 billion redevelopment of the area.
The land was bought by Quintain in 2002. Since then, the area has seen the opening of the 70 unit shopping centre, London Designer Outlet, in 2013, Boxpark Wembley, and the council’s £90 mllion civic centre, as well as being the biggest ‘build to rent’ site in the UK – with 5,000 apartments set to be built by 2026.
The area also hosts festivals including free family friend fireworks and International Busking Day which was launched by musical maestro Nile Rodgers in 2018.
But despite crowded streets and deafening noise on event days, those living in the shadow of the UK’s largest stadium “love it”.
Judges said: “Long famed only for football and a gargantuan Ikea, this once nondescript corner of Brent is now one of northwest London’s buzziest, most brunch-tastic neighbourhoods.
“This transformation is all thanks to a two-decade, £2.8 billion development of the area around the stadium.
“The buzz is not confined to concert days and sporting events – baking buffs flock here from across the city for sourdough starter classes at the flagship Bread Ahead cookery school, while the Saturday market’s artisan produce and handmade crafts supplement the stores at the London Designer Outlet, and street food and crazy golf at Wembley Boxpark.”
Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, said: “It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, but there really is so much to celebrate closer to home, from small gestures that lift the everyday from verges blooming with daffodils to volunteer-run dementia cafés, to new initiatives from repair cafés to new railway stations.”
She added: “What makes our guide unique is that we actually visit all the places we choose and talk to locals to find out what life is really like there.
“That means we can see what people really love about the places they live. That could be anything from exceptional schools and fast trains to beautiful houses and countryside. The health of the high street is important, but more than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong communities who work hard to make the best of where they live, and play hard too.”
